Nov. 14, 2017
04:33 am JST

Are the spent fuel rods and fuel rod assemblies cool down enough to be moved next year??? If should not they be immediately placed in a cask instead of dangling on a crane. If the number 3SPF is cool and stable I would have entombed reactor 3 entirely, SPF included

Nov. 14, 2017
07:39 am JST

@gkamburoff - Can I ask what your profession is? The environment they are working in is not exactly conducive to immediate results. Most of the people working there had nothing to do with the accident and are trying to fix the mess. If you can do better or have a better idea I would suggest you offer it up. This is a milestone and in this situation every milestone is important.

@Utrack - The rods should be suitable for moving at this point in time. Entombment would be difficult as the major mechanism of release is via ground water and entombment would require getting far enough under the reactor building to solve this problem. One wishes it were that simple.

@Christopher - It is a very good question - where they will be taken too. I believe for now these will remain on site (as they should)

Nov. 14, 2017
07:19 pm JST

Nov. 14, 2017
09:23 pm JST

NOTE 435 million kilograms of molten melted radioactive nuclear fuel, location unknown, from Units 1, 2, and 3 is still unaccounted for

That number is way off.

A 1000MWe reactor has a load out of about 100 metric tons of fuel rods in the core. None of the damaged reactors are that big (#1 is 460MWe while #2 & 3 are 784MWe). But even using the 1000MWe number gives 100 metric tons 3 reactors 1000 kilograms per ton = 300,000 kilograms. Less than 1/1000th of the value given.

a crane takes a week to two weeks to install

Not when they are dealing with high levels of radiation, have to make sure and not stir up contaminated dust, have to ensure the building is stable and that the addition of the crane won't cause undue stresses on the structure.

And every step they take has to be approved by the regulators and just looking at the ice wall we can see the regulators have made every job take many times as long as would be expected.

Nov. 15, 2017
08:38 am JST

Nov. 15, 2017
05:16 pm JST

"Says the guy who has consistently claimed nuclear energy is SAFE & CHEEP"

To quote someone else, 'Please show me where I stated that.'

Seven years is more than enough time to build a new foundation structure that isn't built directly on top of the original.

And I never said it wasn't. With the required approvals, the lack of space and the issue with ground water, I doubt building a new foundation was possible. But if you have the engineering and physical data to show that it was possible then please share it with us, or you could have at least shared it with TEPCO and help everyone involved.

Nov. 16, 2017
08:26 am JST

Mike O'Brien, Nuclear Energy is neither cheap or safe as you have claimed.

Your cost comparisons are based on very limited energy sources. My small house is almost completely off grid, solar, wind and a portable fuel cell generator give me 30amps to run everything except my old heating unit which I'll replace this year.

There are very few safety issues in regards to how I generate electricity. However, nuclear energy is far from safe and as you pointed out, it's so dangerous, even just kicking up the dust at Fukushimaa power plant is a problem.

There are many chemical and biological weapons that haven't actually killed anyone but that doesn't mean they are safe, like Nuclear Energy, it's not safe if you're directly exposed to it.

Nov. 16, 2017
05:05 pm JST

First it isn't my cost comparison. Second it includes everything you list except fuel cells.

My small house is almost completely off grid, solar, wind and a portable fuel cell generator

So tell me, are the factories that made your solar, wind and a portable fuel cell generator almost completely off grid? Those things are fine for small applications but fail at large scale.

Personally I don't own or need a vehicle, virtually everything I need is within easy walking or biking distance. But I realize that without vehicle most of what I can get within walking distance would be there because it needs to be transported to me even if I don't directly use the transportation. Although at home you might not directly use grid power, you could not live your life without grid power supplying the energy to produce the things you need.